2005 Japanese general election

2005 Japanese general election

← 2003 11 September 2005 2009 →
All 480 seats in the House of Representatives 241 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	67.46%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Junichiro Koizumi Katsuya Okada Takenori Kanzaki Party Liberal Democratic Democratic Komeito Last election 34.96%, 237 seats 37.39%, 177 seats 14.78%, 34 seats Seats won 296 113 31 Seat change 59 64 3 Popular vote 25,887,798 21,036,425 8,987,620 Percentage 38.18% 31.02% 13.25% Swing 3.22pp 6.37pp 1.53pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Kazuo Shii Mizuho Fukushima Tamisuke Watanuki Party Communist Social Democratic People's New Last election 7.76%, 9 seats 5.12%, 6 seats – Seats won 9 7 4 Seat change 1 New Popular vote 4,919,187 3,719,522 1,183,073 Percentage 7.25% 5.49% 1.74% Swing 0.51pp 0.37pp New   Seventh party Eighth party   Leader Yasuo Tanaka Muneo Suzuki Party New Party Nippon New Party Daichi Last election – – Seats won 1 1 Seat change New New Popular vote 1,643,506 433,938 Percentage 2.42% 0.64% Swing New New
districts and PR districts, shaded according to winners' vote strength.
Prime Minister before election Junichiro Koizumi Liberal Democratic Prime Minister after election Junichiro Koizumi Liberal Democratic

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General elections were held in Japan on 11 September 2005 for all 480 seats of the House of Representatives, the lower house of the Diet. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi called the election almost two years before the end of the term taken from the previous elections in 2003, after bills to privatize Japan Post were voted down in the upper house (which cannot be dissolved), despite strong opposition from within his own Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

The elections resulted in a landslide victory for Koizumi's LDP, with the party winning 296 seats, the largest share since World War II, and marked the first time the LDP had won an overall majority in the House of Representatives since 1990. With its partner, New Komeito, the governing coalition then commanded a two-thirds majority in the lower house, allowing them to pass legislative bills over the objections of the upper house and (though the government did not attempt this) to approve amendments to the Constitution, then submit them to the upper house and a national referendum.

The opposition Democratic Party (DPJ), which advocated a change of government during campaign, suffered a devastating loss, winning only 113 seats against the 175 seats it had previously held. The setback led to the resignation of DPJ leader Katsuya Okada and raised fears regarding whether or not the DPJ could remain an alternative to the LDP in future elections.

The small parties made only small gains or losses, with Koizumi's ally, New Komeito, falling slightly from 34 seats to 31. Of the new parties contesting the election, the New Party Japan fell from three seats to one, while the People's New Party was unchanged at four seats. The Japanese Communist Party held its ground with nine seats, while the Social Democratic Party won seven, a gain of one.